Ledyard National Bank Has $250,000 Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Ledyard National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,120 shares of the company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Centene were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Centene by 5.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 107,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,067,000 after purchasing an additional 5,463 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Centene by 83.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 47,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after acquiring an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in Centene by 285.9% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 0.5 %

CNC opened at $58.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.00. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 1.90%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.31.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.